The invention relates to the field of on-line transactions. The invention relates in particular to authenticating parties to a transaction that has been initiated on-line, when the parties meet in order to finalize the transaction.
A transaction between two persons, e.g. selling goods or a service, may take place in two stages: during a first stage, the transaction is initiated on-line. The parties communicate via a telecommunications network in order to agree on the goods or service, on a sale price, and on a rendezvous to make the exchange. Thereafter, during a second stage, the persons meet and exchange the agreed goods or service for payment of the price.
During such a transaction, it is not possible to be sure that the person attending the rendezvous is indeed the person who initiated the on-line transaction. A third party may thus to attempt to usurp the identity of one of the parties.
It is known to make use of a delivery code in order to enable the purchaser of goods to be authenticated. During a first on-line stage of the transaction, the seller provides the purchaser with a delivery code. On delivery, the purchaser presents the received delivery code in order to authenticate his- or her-self and obtain the goods.
Nevertheless, it remains desirable to improve the security of a transaction initiated on-line.